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Tim Ryan Running for U.S. Senator; Global Warming's Impact on U.S. Glaciers; Oath Keepers Trial; Random Acts of Kindness. Aired 7:30-8a ET

Aired November 03, 2022 - 07:30   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[07:30:00]

REP. TIM RYAN (D-OH): And it's going to give me a level of independence that most senators don't have. I'll probably be one of the most independent senators ever to walk into the Senate. Or J.D. Vance, on the other hand, has taken $15 million from a Silicon Valley billionaire and 40 million from Mitch McConnell. This guy's bought and paid for before he even walks into the the door. So, we're continuing to build that out. People can go to timforOh.com.

DON LEMON, CNN ANCHOR: There it is.

RYAN: And chip in and be a part of this machine.

LEMON: Got it.

RYAN: If they don't recognize - If they don't -

(LAUGHTER)

RYAN: Thank you. If they don't recognize that we got a real shot to win this thing and that we're going to shock the world, and that's on them, not on me

LEMON: Representative, I've got to ask you, because you said you have to be able to walk and chew gum at the same time in your answers to Poppy Harlow What we also have to be able to do is sit down and talk to each other, which has been really tough over the last couple of years, especially when you have someone egging people on to - you know - egging on division. You go into the lion's den. We saw you there. Conservative media, taking the tough questions, and when you talk about things, when you give people facts, they don't like it because they are in this echo chamber of media, just listening to conservative media, and the facts aren't necessarily present. But I think - don't you think more people need to do that? You've got Katie Hobbs. She won't debate her opponent. You're not afraid to do that. What is the lesson here for Democrats?

RYAN: Have some guts. Have some guts. Look, you got - you have to lead. This moment right now is calling for leadership. It's calling for citizenship. People are tired of the hate, tired of the anger, tired of the fear, tired of the division. But you need leaders who can go into an environment like a Fox News town hall as a Democrat and say, look, we got to love each other, we got to care about each other. We need forgiveness, we need reconciliation, we need reform, we need some grace. And it starts by leaders going into those environments saying, I understand you have concerns. Let's talk about them. Because the thing we have in common, Don, is that our kids and our grandkids are all going to live together.

LEMON: Okay?

RYAN: And we have to make a decision right now in this election whether we're going to give them a culture where they can have a conversation to solve problems, or we're going to give them a culture where they have to hate each other, and you have the level of political violence we saw with Paul Pelosi, and that's just not acceptable to me. We got to ask citizens to step up.

LEMON: All right. That said, then, who do you - do you think you're going to win over Republicans? Where are you going to win over these Republicans in Ohio who are because I'm wondering how they treat you when you go there? Do you think you're going to be able to do that?

RYAN: We're - we're doing amazing. We've got a huge Republican accountability project that's making huge investments into the state. Not coordinated with our campaign, but we see them everywhere with billboards that say, I'm a conservative, I'm a gun owner, and I'm voting for Tim Ryan. Rob Portman, the current Republican senator, now his former chief of staff, is running that Republicans for Ryan initiative. Former Congressman Dave Hobson is on board. We have so many two-time Trump voters who aren't for the insurrectionists and aren't for all the craziness and insanity, but they're voting for me because I'm talking about the pocketbook issues that they care about. How do we build the natural gas industry, how do we increase manufacturing? How do we build electric vehicles? How do we just start building things again? And again, if you don't go to these communities like I have, I've been to all 88 counties in Ohio. I've been up and down the Ohio River for the last 18 months and say, look, I care about you, I love you, I'm concerned about your kids, too. Right.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Right.

RYAN: And I'm going to work my rear end off to get jobs in these communities. And that's - and that's all people want to hear. Like, this is not rocket science. This is a people business. You get all the really smart people who want to get into the analytics and all that craziness, and it's just like, go talk to people, tell them you care about them, and tell them you want to help. And it's that simple.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: I'm fascinated by something that we've seen with a lot of the races across the nation. And we'll be looking to see what this looks like on election night on Tuesday, which is people who are splitting their tickets. That is something that you really don't see often these days, people either vote all Democrat or all Republican. But have you encountered voters, what you were just talking about there, Republicans who are voting for you. Have you encountered people who are voting for you, for the Senate, but for the Republican candidate for governor? RYAN: Yeah. Yeah, there are. There's a lot -- a lot of signs with Mike DeWine and Tim Ryan all over the state. I think people really like our message. They don't want the extremism of J.D. Vance. And so, there are a lot of Republicans that are saying, like, look, we have to come together. I don't want the extremism on either side, and I'm going to vote down the middle. And that's what's happening here in Ohio. And so, there are a lot of DeWine-Ryan supporters. And again, we've got to work together. Like, we've got to stop this insanity of thinking that you got to agree with somebody 100 percent of the time.

LEMON: Amen.

RYAN: And I joke all the time on the campaign trail with my wife there. I'm like, are you married?

HARLOW: (LAUGHTER)

RYAN: Like, me and my wife, if we have 10 conversations, and we agree on seven of them, we pop a bottle of wine and celebrate how great our marriage was on that day.

[07:35:00]

HARLOW: Oh man.

LEMON: Thank you.

RYAN: This is not - this is not - this is not how the world works.

LEMON: We don't always agree with each other here. I don't agree with my mom all the time. I don't agree with my fiance all the time.

HARLOW: I know. Well, I was just going to say, I just think that your batting average is one to aspire to in a marriage. So, seven out of 10 is great. I'm all for that, Congressman. But on a very serious note, I want to talk about China before we go because you have been, like, beating the drum on this for years. You told us three years ago in that presidential town hall, this is the number one issue the next president is going to face. Guess what? Biden's going to the G20. He's going to likely sit down with Xi. And you said it is us versus China. And instead of talking about that in Washington, they're focusing on stupid fights. What would you do if you were Biden sitting down with Xi on China right now?

RYAN: I think you've got to talk to him about fentanyl and the level of fentanyl that's coming out of China, going to Mexico and ending up in our country. I think we should designate it as a weapon of mass destruction so we can try to do our best to marshal the resources to keep it out of our country. I think we need to continue to make robust investments into the technologies of the future for our military. We have to be the strongest military in the world on land, air, sea, cyber, space, the whole nine yards. This is a country not to be messed with. We don't want to go to war with them, but we better be - we better come to that from a position of strength. I would talk to them about their help with Russia going into Ukraine. They certainly winked and nodded and said it was okay to go. But go

right after the Olympics? That's an unacceptable position for them to have. And Americans need to realize that Russia and China are coordinating military efforts now. They're coordinating economic efforts. Russia wants - China wants to displace us. And these are countries that don't have free speech, free press. They have ethnic cleansing. They punish their political opponents, which is why we have to have the strongest economy possible. This is why we have to rebuild the great American middle class. This is why we have to dominate the industries of the future and go to shop class and robust investments in joint vocational school because we've got to be the manufacturing powerhouse of the world. We've got to be the arsenal of energy for the world. This is a real deal. And when we got out of the World War II generation and the greatest generation, we've kind of lost that connection to our role to defend freedom in the world. And we have to do that in Ukraine. Yeah. And that starts with these tough conversations in China. But we've got to come at these conversations from a position of strength, and that would be my recommendation to the president.

LEMON: Alright. Thank you, Congressman. Thank you, we really appreciate you.

HARLOW Congressman Tim Ryan, appreciate all the time this morning.

RYAN: Good morning. Have a great morning, guys.

LEMON: Thank you. Love the merch. Love the red pullover.

HARLOW: Everyone wants this sweater.

COLLINS: That's an interesting closing message, though, compared to what we heard from President Biden last night.

HARLOW: It's totally different. It's totally different. We have five days to go. Join CNN for special election night coverage. Starts Tuesday, 4:00 P.M. Eastern. Right here.

COLLINS: Threats against Nancy Pelosi and a warning of potential combat on U.S. soil. We have newly released audio from the Oath Keepers' seditious conspiracy trial.

LEMON: And the troubling climate report this morning on the future of the Earth's iconic glacier.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

TALES CARVALHO RESENDE, UNESCO PROJECT OFFICER, NATURAL HERITAGE UNIT: Glaciers are one of the most valuable indicators of climate change because they are visible, we can see with our eyes.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:40:00] COLLINS: An alarming new report about the planet's climate crisis. A UN group finding that a third of the planet's most iconic glaciers, including two of the most visited and most beloved national parks here in the United States, are on track to disappear in the next 30 years. Joining us now is CNN national correspondent, Rene Marsh. 30 years is pretty quick, Rene.

MARSH: Yeah, it certainly is. And this is a first of its kind global assessment of the world's most iconic glaciers. From Mount Kilimanjaro to Yosemite and Yellowstone right here at home. And some of these sites might feel like a world away, but the impact of this accelerated melt will be far reaching as it drives global sea level rise.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH (voice-over): Some of the world's most renowned glaciers are on track to disappear in the next 30 years, whether global warming is slowed or not. A sobering finding from United Nations researchers based on satellite data. Among the glaciers on the brink of vanishing are those in two of the most visited U.S national parks, Yosemite and Yellowstone. Repeat photography documents the vanishing glaciers through time.

CARVALHO RESENDE: Glaciers are one of the most valuable indicators of climate change because they are visible. We can see with our eyes the retreat of a glacier.

MARSH (voice-over): The report finds that one third of the planet's glaciers, identified by the United Nations as locations of significance, are set to disappear, and scientists warn the impact will be felt a world away.

CARVALHO RESENDE: Glaciers retreat is contributing to about five percent of global sea level rise. The impacts of this melting can be seen in our daily lives through, for instance, floods, as well as a coastal erosion and even tsunamis.

MARSH (voice-over): Glacier melt was believed to have contributed to two catastrophic floods this summer. At Yellowstone National Park, torrential rain and abnormally warm temperatures caused a wave of snowmelt that produced a foot of runoff and dangerous flooding. And in Pakistan, intense monsoon rainfall, coupled with glacial melt following extreme heat in the region, triggered deadly flooding.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

MARSH: Well, the runoff from glaciers are also an important water source. So, this will have a critical impact on agriculture, irrigation, even hydropower, especially in those drought prone states. And scientists say, Kaitlan, the main action that's needed to counteract this is simply cutting greenhouse gas emissions. Kaitlan?

COLLINS: Yes, the effects of it are so widespread.

MARSH: Yeah.

COLLINS: Renee Marsh. Thank you.

[07:45:00]

LEMON: Well, there's troubling new revelations to tell you about from the Oath Keepers trial. In a secretly recorded meeting days after January 6, Oath Keepers leader Stewart Rhodes allegedly tried to issue a warning about potential violence to then President Donald Trump and urge him to invoke the Insurrection Act. Let me get straight now to CNN's Sarah Sidner, who has been following the trial here this morning. Good morning to you. Talk to us about the secret recording, Sara. What's up with that?

SARA SIDNER, CNN SENIOR NATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Yeah, it's really interesting that you have so many recordings and so many messages that we're hearing directly from the mouths of those who are the defendants in this case. This one came from Oath Keeper founder Stewart Rhodes, one of the five people on trial for seditious conspiracy. And it was recorded about January 10. So, a few days after the attack on the Capitol, where he stood outside, and some of his members went into the Capitol and stormed it, as they put it, in their own recordings. But in this recording, it was a U.S. military veteran who told the jury that he had some indirect connection with Donald Trump. And Stewart Rhodes was trying to get a message to Donald Trump about what to do next, or what should happen. Let me let you listen to some of what the jury heard in this secret hoarding.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART RHODES, OATH KEEPERS FOUNDER: There's going be a combat here on U.S. soil no matter what, no matter what you think (inaudible). It's coming. You can't get out of it. It's too f--king late.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So, there's going to be combat. These are the violent terms in which Stewart Rhodes apparently saw the situation. He was trying to get this message to Donald Trump. There's also another message that's pretty disturbing, especially in light of what's happened to Paul Pelosi, who was attacked with a hammer by someone who had been looking at a lot of this conspiracy theory and anti-Pelosi rhetoric, if you will. Antidemocrat rhetoric. There is a part of the message where Rhodes is allegedly trying to get another message to Trump, saying, if he would have known that Donald Trump was going to basically concede, they should have brought rifles. And then he says this, according to the witness.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

Rhodes: (inaudible)

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SIDNER: So, you see just another example there of sort of coming after Nancy Pelosi with this violent rhetoric, talking about taking her out, and, you know, there was a real concern after all of this that there was going to be something that happened on January 21 when the inauguration happened. And so, this is just an example that prosecutors are saying, look, it is very clear they were trying to stop the democratic process. And you have it in their own words. Now, the prosecution is almost done with their case. They are expected to rest today. And guess who we're going to hear from immediately when the defense takes their case to the jury? We're going to hear from Stewart Rhodes himself. He is expected to be one of the first witnesses in the defense case.

LEMON: Sara, thank you. We're going to - we'll - we'll wait for the outcome of this trial to see what happens. I mean, this is just the worst, most vile behavior

COLLINS: And I remember January 21, the security in Washington was unlike anything you had ever seen because of January 6. And they were so freaked out about what could happen.

LEMON: It's just that I don't - I don't know how this has become okay in our society, but we'll move on.

HARLOW: We will follow it, and we'll follow up with kindness. Why don't we do that? We are switching gears.

LEMON: I don't know if that can help it.

(LAUGHTER)

HARLOW: We've been doing a series this week - I am optimistic - on the science behind why we act the way we do. Right? So today, kindness. Why does helping others make us feel good? We'll tell you with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, next.

LEMON: I'm such a skeptic. Dr. Gupta.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:50:00]

LEMON: Okay, so Dr. Gupta gave us some homework. He told us we had to perform one act of kindness. So how did we do? I think I failed.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: Come on. One act of kindness.

HARLOW: So, my kids did it. Okay? And this is pretty great. They made these cards. That was last night. San (ph) and Luca (ph) for their good friend Pearl (ph). Pearl was just diagnosed about two weeks ago with leukemia. She's in the hospital. We're going to show you. That is sweet Pearl. She's going to be okay. It is the less aggressive form, but four weeks of chemo and then hopefully remission. But this is a yearlong struggle for their family. But this is even passing on the kindness, Sanjay, the family has the means to help support the family while she's in the hospital but many other families don't. Look at this: go to team Pearl girls supporting other families in need with kids with cancer in the hospital and help them out.

COLLINS: She's so cute. HARLOW: Pearl is amazing.

GUPTA: That is amazing.

LEMON: Man, I feel bad now.

GUPTA: What did you do, Don?

LEMON: I bought --

HARLOW: Don't even say it.

LEMON: My fiance ice cream after dinner, and I bought a lotto ticket that I'll share with you (inaudible)

HARLOW: Don does a lot of kind acts.

LEMON: Flowers?!

HARLOW: Orchids for us.

LEMON: So, what's up with this? How does this - explain

GUPTA: I find this fascinating, this idea that it feels good to do good, and I'll tell you why. There's been recent data that's shown this neural link between generosity and happiness. And just think about that as a concept. You do something kind, and it fundamentally changes your brain. And we can see now, I mean, these are recent studies. This is the area of the brain that actually changes in response to an act of generosity, an act of altruism, an act of kindness, the helper's high, so to speak. If you were to look at it on this brain model, it's right in this area over here. Your brain changes immediately when you do something like that. And that's an area that people have been researching now for some time, trying to figure out how the brain responds when people are kind to each other.

[07:55:00]

COLLINS: The reason I think this is so interesting is because we're in this culture where we do put a lot of emphasis on taking care of yourself, putting yourself first, which mental health and that kind of stuff is so important. But it's interesting that if you're looking at this from a cynical perspective, you would think that that would be what makes you feel better.

GUPTA: Yes.

COLLINS: But it's actually putting others first.

GUPTA: I know, and that - that's I think perhaps the most fascinating part because evolutionarily Darwin didn't actually say survival of the fittest, but that's what we think. Rugged individualism. It's all about the self. But we find that, you know, that's obviously not exactly true. There is sort of this idea of helping your own family. Sort of the idea of kin being somebody that you will actually do acts of kindness for. Even your groups, people who you identify within your own groups. But it's this idea of stranger selection. People you don't know. Random acts of kindness for a total stranger, which actually causes these sorts of changes in the brain. That's the big difference. Why would we do that evolutionarily if it's all about protecting the self? Well, it's about protecting the species, protecting strangers. And that's what I think these brain studies have really shown.

COLLINS: That's so interesting.

LEMON: Doctor, you're the best. That's my act of kindness. You're the best. You look great.

GUPTA: That is very kind of you, Don. Thank you.

LEMON: You make us smarter. Thank you. The room lights up like the sweater.

HARLOW: Are -- are you more optimistic now?

COLLINS: Before the commercial break?

LEMON: I am an optimist. But I'm also a realist

HARLOW: All right.

LEMON: You bring good energy.

GUPTA: Thank you very much. I appreciate it.

HARLOW: Thank you, doctor.

GUPTA: You got it.

HARLOW: Some big names are hitting the campaign trail in the final stretch of the midterms. We're going to take you next to Iowa.

COLLINS: And also next, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is going to be joining CNN this morning live, taking our questions. It is something you're not going to want to miss.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

LEMON: You know, we always say that it's a very busy news morning, and it really is. It's a big news day. Good morning, everybody. Welcome to the program. I'm so glad that you're waking up with us. Hope you're having a cup of coffee, breakfast, and you're getting going. This is Kaitlan Collins. This is Poppy Harlow. I'm Don Lemon. We appreciate it. It's Thursday, November 3. So welcome to CNN this morning. So why don't we get right to it? Because the secretary, former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton coming up, and we have a lot of things we want to ask her. It is go time. Just five days left before the midterms.